Girl On Fire
by Lapis Love
Summary: Takes place after 4x04. Elena knows she needs to make things right with Bonnie, however, friendship negotiations are the last thing on Bonnie's mind. She's determined to take back the power and her birthright that's been challenged, stomped on, and disregarded. Tired of feeling busted and disgusted, things are about to change. *ON HIATUS*
1. Intro

**A/N: This is in response to the fudgery that's been season 4 so far, but mainly it takes place after 4x04. In writing this I'm not thinking about ships, but I've had to shift through my ever changing feelings about TVD to get to what I want the characters to express. Enjoy.**

It seemed like ages since the last time Elena was here. Shame rushed through her veins making her undead heart beat just a little faster. Part of her wanted to run, the other half of her knew she needed to stay and get through this because if things were ever going to change, the change needed to begin with her.

Walking up the three steps leading to the winding porch, Elena tucked a strand of mahogany hair behind her ear and knocked on the glass window.

She listened intently to Bonnie's heart beat yet she didn't hear her friend's feet hit the floor nor them making any kind of move to open the front door. Sucking in another massive breath of air, Elena knocked again and waited.

What seemed like minutes later, the door finally opened. Elena immediately slapped a smile on her face though the gesture seemed inappropriate considering this was her first time seeing her friend since their disastrous road trip. Quickly aborting the memory, Elena increased her cheerfulness although feeling anything but.

The two friends stared at one another, silently, before Elena remembered to talk.

"Hi, how are you?" she asked lamely willing her smile to stay in place.

Bonnie folded her arms and stared blankly at Elena wondering what she was doing here so early on a Saturday morning. Inwardly Bonnie snorted. In the past she wouldn't have had to question Elena's motives for showing up on her doorstep, but as the months had passed from the start of their junior year to this very moment, Elena's presence in her home became less and less until it was almost non-existent.

"What are you doing here?" Bonnie inquired.

Elena's smile dimmed a bit. She had anticipated being asked that question. "I came to check up on you. We haven't really seen nor spoken since the trip…can I come in?"

Bonnie shook her head. "If you're here to explain your behavior with Damon, I'm really not interested in hearing it."

Elena shifted her weight on her feet. "No, that's not why I came…Bonnie I know there's been distance between us lately and…I feel like I'm losing you as a friend."

Bonnie did not refute a single word Elena had spoken. How could she? Bonnie couldn't exactly remember the last time Elena had been a true honest to God friend to her. Whenever they hung out the conversation was _always _centered around Elena's drama, problems, dilemma etc. What Bonnie craved more than anything was not just a break from being the resident witch, but a break from her ratchet friends. Well, she could exclude Caroline, but come to think of it, Bonnie hadn't seen much of her lately either.

Sighing heavily, Bonnie stepped out into the porch and closed the door behind her. Elena cast a worried glance to her friend not liking the uncomfortable silence and tension between them. Elena could fit on one hand the number of falling outs and arguments she and Bonnie had had throughout the years. But this rift between them now had become a crater with no way to repair the damage. Plain and simple, Elena missed her friend, and hoped it wasn't too late to get things back on track. Besides she got yet another rude awakening from the "thing" she was becoming, not person, but _thing, _and Elena was fighting against doing a complete one-eighty.

Bonnie kept her back to Elena as she stared out to the deserted street. "What do you want from me, Elena? What do you honestly want?" she turned to face the raven-haired baby vampire. "I tried to save you and it backfired like it normally does, and Grams…I don't even want to talk about Grams, but she said something to me that I'm beginning to take to heart."

"What did she say?" Elena said carefully preparing herself to hear something dreadful.

Bonnie's eyes glassed over. "She said that you weren't my problem. And she's right. I've wasted so much of my time trying to fix you and for what? You're going to allow Stefan but more so Damon influence you until you're no longer the girl I grew up with…my _sister_," Bonnie stated emphatically. "What I saw happen between you and him, that wasn't you, but Katherine."

Elena flinched as if she had been burned. It would appear that she and Bonnie shared the exact same fear. For so long Elena had wasted her breath protesting how much she didn't want to become like the vampire who started the rivalry between the Salvatore's, and it would seem she was following in exactly the same footsteps with half the willpower to stop and cease her actions as her ancestor.

"You want to be like Katherine," Bonnie continued and then made a shooing motion with her hand towards the exit. "Go right ahead because no one is stopping you."

Elena took a step forward as Bonnie took one step back. She licked her suddenly dry lips and forced the lump forming in the middle of her throat down. "I don't want to be her and I know I keep saying that and my actions," Elena paused to run a frustrated hand through her hair, "my actions speak differently. That's why I need you, Bonnie. I need to be around the people who know me, the _real _me."

Bonnie wanted to believe Elena was ready to put her big girl drawers on and leave Damon's tuition by the wayside, but she had been burned every single time she allowed herself to hope to believe things would improve, get better. Her expectations had been crushed time after time again that Bonnie was officially done. She was tired of giving people the benefit of the doubt who clearly didn't deserve it since they did nothing but take her for granted. Yet Bonnie would admit she had a hand in it by allowing people to play her and disrespect her at every single turn.

Not anymore and she meant it this time.

Elena could see Bonnie closing off, shutting down. She couldn't afford to lose her. Elena recognized she made a slew of bad and poor decisions from the time she met Stefan, and if she could she would rectify them all. But she needed to start somewhere.

"I would be inclined to believe you more, Elena, if you had come to me after you finished transitioning," Bonnie laughed humorlessly. "Where were you after you completed the transition?"

Guiltily Elena looked away. She had been sitting on a rooftop with Stefan planning a future with him and watching the sunrise. How romantic.

"That's what I thought," Bonnie supplied the answer to her own question. "When I needed my friend she was nowhere to be found."

"I wanted to be here for you, I did," Elena implored. "Caroline told me what happened with Grams and Klaus and I wanted…I knew I should have been right by your side, but…I figured you needed some time alone."

"Oh, I got plenty of time alone, but what I needed was my friend. It's funny that one half of the vampire duo responsible for killing Abby showed up on my doorstep not to check up on me, but to ask me something. Stefan was there for me even though the moment lasted no longer than three minutes, but for three minutes I felt like I mattered to someone; that my pain was important to someone else."

"Bonnie, I'm sorry," tears were rolling down Elena's cheeks. Bonnie was not moved. "I'm a horrible, terrible friend…person, I know that…"

"You want to be my friend well friendship is earned not given. You should try to remember that. Things have to change, Elena. You're not the same and I'm not the same."

"Okay," Elena vigorously nodded her head and wiping away her tears with the back of her hand. "Okay, just tell me what I have to do."

"A trip to the mall or to the movies is not going to fix this, Elena. It's about you taking responsibility for the choices you've made, and correcting them. Find that girl who wouldn't put some guy over her family or her friends. The girl who would _never _turn to her boyfriend's brother for comfort. What happened to her? Where the hell is she?"

Again, Elena couldn't answer.

"I know you'd like me to say that all is forgiven and for us to pick up right where we left off, but if I keep letting you off the hook how could I ever expect you to learn?" Bonnie stared at Elena questionably.

The vampire in question sniffled. "I know I have my work cut out for me, and at the end of the day I don't deserve you as a friend because you've lost so much because of me. But I'm willing to do whatever is necessary to get things back on track between us. Just please…give me a chance."

Bonnie thought over Elena's proposal. As much as she missed and longed for their friendship, Bonnie was learning she could function quite well without it. She had been emailing Professor Shane frequently, and had spoken with him over the phone a couple of times. He was nothing but a well of knowledge that Bonnie was fully prepared to give him a significant chunk of her attention, however, she wasn't exactly letting his old world good looks cloud her judgment. When men showed an interest in her one of two things happened: they were either killed, or betrayed her. So it went without saying that she wouldn't be giving Professor Shane her trust automatically. It too would have to be earned.

"Let me think about it," Bonnie said.

"Okay. Well…I'll let you go. Thank you for talking to me. I know you didn't have to do that much."

Bonnie headed towards the door and paused once she reached it. She shifted a little to face Elena, "You're right, I didn't."

* * *

**Two weeks later…**

Things weren't back on track; in fact things hadn't started yet. That's why Elena felt it necessary to throw a Bonnie appreciation dinner held at the Lockwood mansion not as a last ditch effort to prove to her friend that she was serious—although she was—but to open up the dialogue between them.

At school things had been cool but cordial between them. Elena would show an avid interest in hearing about Bonnie's day, but Bonnie would go through the motions with the same enthusiasm showed towards explaining a complicated physics problem. Yet Elena took it all in stride knowing she had a ton of ground to cover if she were ever going to get the sisterhood she used to share with Bonnie back.

Of course she enlisted the help of everyone's friend Caroline Forbes who was only too eager to assist. Caroline missed the sleepovers they used to have almost on a religious basis, and she couldn't exactly remember the last time all three of them hung out and did girly stuff and talked trash about the guys in their lives. She needed this night almost as much as Bonnie because Tyler had been acting weird, which she found unnerving considering his sire bond with Klaus was broken, and they hadn't had a Klaus sighting in weeks.

They should be celebrating! Not tip toeing around each other.

Jeremy strolled into one of the formal dinning rooms carrying place mates and napkins that needed to be rolled.

"Alaric should be here if he were alive," he said to his sister who was busy fooling around with the centerpiece.

"Yeah, but he's not. I hate saying its time for us to move on, but there's nothing we can do about him, Jenna, our parents…besides this night is about Bonnie."

"And I don't understand why," Damon sauntered into the room dressed in all black. He leaned against the wall, arms folded over his chest. "She's been pretty much _useless _since, I don't know, forever," he smirked.

Jeremy rolled his eyes. "You're a real fucking asshole, you know that, Damon?"

That comment ceased all activity in the room as everyone anticipated Damon attempting to turn Jeremy into a pretzel.

Surprisingly the immortal did nothing but glare at Jeremy yet the look on Damon's face clearly read the boy was treading on dangerous ground. Yet Jeremy wasn't done, and he didn't care.

"Of all the people who I think should be here I don't understand why you are? Is it because you knew Elena would be here and you have to get your fix for the day?"

"Jeremy," Elena cautioned. She was so not in the mood to break up a fight between those two.

Damon remained unfazed posted up against the wall. How many lectures has he had to sit through since blowing back into this hick town? A hundred? A thousand? And only a handful had actually penetrated through his thick skull to make any kind of inward change happen in Damon.

"No, Elena, stop coming to his rescue," and he began to stalk closer to Damon. "I take it back you should be here and you should be the main one kissing the ground Bonnie walks on because if it hadn't been for her you would have been dead a long ass time ago. So how about you try showing her some respect?" he now stood toe-to-toe with Damon. "She saved you from hell but she can easily send you there, and you know it."

Damon clapped his hands together. "Still trying to earn yourself brownie points to get her back, Junior. It's admirable. I dig it."

Stefan entered the room next. "Damon for once just shut the hell up."

Caroline snickered and went back to adding her final touches around the room. Glowering at Damon one final time, Jeremy walked away.

With the entire party assembled and the food waiting to be devoured, everyone kind of stood around and had small talk until the doorbell chimed. Tyler went to answer it and was a little taken aback by what he saw.

"Bonnie, hey come on in."

Bonnie entered the premises almost feeling as if she were walking into a lion's den. She shook off the feeling, and then smiled towards her special guest.

"Tyler this is Professor Shane. He took over the occult class that Grams taught at Whittemore."

A little confused by why a college professor was here, Tyler nevertheless stuck out a hand. "Tyler Lockwood, nice to meet you," he said politely.

Professor Shane shook Tyler's hand a little impressed with the young boy's grip, yet he already sensed something supernatural about him. Bonnie hadn't divulged much about her friends but then again she didn't need to. Shane knew more about Mystic Falls and its colorful history, probably much more than the clandestine although recently deceased Council.

"Nice to meet you, too. You have a magnificent house. I think it dates back to the early Victorian era."

Tyler shrugged, "You'd have to ask my mom. She's into that kind of stuff," Tyler shifted on his feet and gave Bonnie a very approving once-over. "Wow, you look hot…I mean, nice. You look nice," he recovered lamely.

Bonnie smiled demurely. "Thank you, Tyler."

"Let's head on back," Tyler led the way to the formal dinning room where everyone waited.

Damon who was standing next to his brother leaned over and whispered, "Why the hell is Professor Jail bait here?"

Jiggling the ice in his glass of cognac, Stefan made a restless movement with his shoulder. "I don't know, Damon, why don't you ask him? Apparently he and Bonnie hit it off after her college visit. How did that go by the way?"

It wasn't hard to miss the sarcastic edge to Stefan's tone but Damon diplomatically chose not to answer. He knew Elena had a history of confessing her crimes with him to Stefan but she had yet to mention just how things went down at that frat party. Not saying Damon was looking forward to hearing Stefan whine and complain about the kind of teaching Elena needed, but the less he heard of his sanctimonious brother's mouth the better off his attitude would be. For everyone.

When Bonnie stepped into the room several jaws hit the floor. Her hair was styled in some elaborate up do, her makeup was very dramatic far more than anyone was used to seeing. And her dress, the dress alone was hard to describe other than saying it was black, short, tight in all the right places and paid homage to her attributes, and killer legs.

Elena walked over to Bonnie and Damon watched as the two of them exchanged pleasantries and then very tentatively hugged one another. Bonnie reintroduced Professor Shane to Elena just prior to Caroline coming over to make her own introduction.

Matt, Jeremy, and even Stefan eventually made their way over to Bonnie to say hello and to meet the professor who stood protectively next to Bonnie. Damon maintained his distance and merely got an impassive once-over from Bonnie before she was inexplicably drawn into another conversation.

Standing alone and feeling out of place wasn't completely unusual for Damon because this gave him time to think. Jeremy was right, he shouldn't yet _should _be here. Out of everyone who caused some level of destruction in Bonnie's life he was the main one, the ring leader, the puppet master and though that wouldn't have bothered Damon one bit, even he wasn't blind to the fact that Bonnie had saved his life even when he had given her every reason in the book not too.

That didn't mean he was automatically going to start liking her or being nice to her. She's done her fair share of finger pointing and condemning him for his very existence like everyone in this room. Damon didn't need to be voted Most Popular by the Yearbook committee. He was fine with being hated, being dubbed the number one villain of Mystic Falls. Klaus had vacated that position the minute he fell for Vampire Barbie and sent her his own rendition of My Little Pony drawings.

Once the small talk was over, everyone took their seats at the table. Shane pulled out the chair at the head of the table for Bonnie and took the seat to her left. Elena sat her right with Stefan seated beside her, and Damon next to him. Beside Shane was Caroline, then Tyler, Jeremy, with Matt sitting across from him.

All of Bonnie's favorite dishes had been prepared. When Elena called and invited her to this dinner Bonnie's first inclination was to decline. She didn't want to break bread with Stefan and especially not with Damon, yet conceded because she knew how persistent Elena could become when she was after something. Bonnie was well aware of the fact this was supposed to be her appreciation dinner and she could say she appreciated the effort, but was still a little disheartened that the events leading up to this moment had to happen in order for this to occur.

Hell, Bonnie thought, even Buffy had been appreciated by her seemingly oblivious class mates who honored her at senior prom, so Bonnie could set her pride aside and allow her friends to do something nice for her even if the move was slightly calculated.

Soon the sound of forks and knives scraping along fine china wafted through the air. Conversations flowed easily enough with Matt and Tyler surprisingly dominating the conversation. Bonnie laughed and smiled and added her insight at the appropriate times yet there was still a part of her that felt like she was acting, or acting how everyone had come to expect her to behave. This night was becoming taxing and they were barely done with the second course.

Caroline had wanted everyone to go around the table and say something nice about Bonnie, but then banked that idea. She knew Damon would take that moment as an opportunity to say something cutting which would naturally and abruptly end the evening. It was best that he remain silent and let his physical presence at dinner be enough for now.

Jeremy for his part was curious about Bonnie's level of attachment to the new guy. He found it highly suspicious of a college professor making himself available to mentor a pretty high school student when there was no guarantee Bonnie would ever become a student of his. Though he knew he lost the right to interject his opinions about Bonnie's affairs, Jeremy would keep an eye on Shane. They didn't know anything about him other than the fact he loved witches, his words according to Damon, and anyone proclaiming to love a witch more to the matter loved what they could do.

For Bonnie's sake, Jeremy hoped Shane wasn't trying to use her for his own gain.

Naturally when they were about to move on to dessert an uninvited guest strolled in. Caroline grumbled and dropped her fork on her plate. Tyler slapped his napkin down, Matt was in mid chew and stopped to gawk at the Original Hybrid or whatever title he was going by these days; Stefan face palmed himself, Damon took a mighty sip of his wine, and Elena pursed her lips together.

Shane and Bonnie just stared at Klaus, unperturbed by his entry.

Klaus beamed as he stepped into the room, dimples carving trenches in his grizzled cheeks. "Here you are having a dinner party and you didn't invite me. I must say my feelings are hurt."

"No one wants you here," Elena said brusquely. "Since you know where the exit is I suggest you take it."

Klaus did the total opposite and pulled out the unoccupied chair at the other end of the table. He sat down and picked up the empty wine glass and looked around for a servant, but saw none. Pretty shoddy party with no help around, Klaus thought.

"Like with everything else I have to do in my life, I guess I have to pour my own drink."

Damon at that moment collected all the non-existent phlegm in his mouth and spit it into his wine glass. He held it out to Klaus who didn't look amused. "Here you go. That's one hundred and seventy years of nicely aged vampire mucus."

Several people could do nothing but shake their heads and/or grimace in disgust.

"What are you doing here, Klaus?" Stefan asked. The last time those two saw one another they had promised to keep the secret concerning The Five, Connor the vampire hunter, and Rebekah's daggering amongst themselves. Stefan certainly hadn't anticipated Klaus finding Alexander's sword quite so fast.

Wishful thinking.

Shane leaned over to whisper to Bonnie. "I'm guessing that's the hybrid you were telling me about?"

She nodded. "That would be the one," Bonnie locked eyes with Klaus.

"Hmm it would appear we have a new face among the ranks," Klaus slid to the edge of his seat. "And whom might you be?" he directed at Shane.

Bonnie picked up her wine glass and held it up in the air, cutting off Klaus' impending inquisition. "I'd like to propose a toast."

Everyone was a little perplexed but grabbed their wine glasses and held them up.

"I know this might seem a little unorthodox so just bear with me," Bonnie cleared her throat. "I'm beginning to see that I need to take care of myself, and not to put my needs and wants on the back burner for others," she looked at Elena who dropped her eyes. "Because there are people in the world who are selfish and greedy and will only take from you and give you nothing in return. I've learned there are men who are simply cowards unable to walk away from a dead situation, a dead relationship, a dead cause," Bonnie pointedly looked at Jeremy. "I've learned there are men who are willing to assassinate their character for a girl who is not deserving of their devotion," Stefan was her next target. "I've learned there are men, and women who dedicate their lives to ruining the happiness of others," Bonnie eyes found their resting place on Damon. "So this toast is for those who have been hurt, crushed, or annihilated by those who simply want to watch the world suffer. Salute."

A very hesitant "salute" went into the air as everyone took a sip of their drink. It was dead silent after that, the air oppressed with guilt-ridden consciences.

Klaus appeared amused by Bonnie's toast. "Quite an unusual speech, love. I would say it was the ranting of a bitter soon-to-be old maid."

"Oh," Bonnie smiled and sat her glass down. "I wouldn't know anything about being on old maid, bitter—yes, but I think there is someone out there who has an equal right to feeling bitter. Wouldn't you say so…Rebekah?"

Out of everyone Klaus and Stefan were the most shocked to see Rebekah stroll into the room, still dressed in the outfit she wore when she was brutally daggered by her brother.

"You would be right, Bonnie." Rebekah's cornflower blue eyes dropped to Klaus where she glared at him spitefully. "Hello, Nik."

Klaus was up and out of his seat in no time flat. "What is the meaning of this?" he seethed his eyes volleying between three people: Rebekah, Stefan, and Bonnie. "You're supposed to be rotting in a box!" he whirled to face Stefan. "You deceived me!" Klaus accused.

However, Stefan looked equally befuddled by the situation.

"I didn't say a _word,_" Stefan defended.

"Okay, what the hell is going on?" Tyler interrupted.

"That's what I would like to know," Jeremy commented.

Bonnie rose from her seat and clasped her hands in front of her. She peered down on Elena. "I told you things have to change," she brought her eyes back to Rebekah. "And they do so tonight."

Chapter end.

**A/N: I've wanted to write a Bonbekah (?) story since the premiere, but I had to get my emotions under control. Although I couldn't stand Rebekah when they brought on her character last season, my love for this chick has grown. She and Bonnie share so many parallels that I don't understand why the writers have paired her up with that useless character April. It would make better sense, at least to me, for Bonnie and Rebekah to establish a friendship only because they are heavily taken for granted by those they love. I don't know what goes through JP's mind but Bex will have these moments where she's strong and tell it like it is but then she'll revert to being over anxious, needy, and desperate for attention. So she and Bonnie will be teaming up in this and we'll see how things go concerning an actual plot, which I don't have completely hammered out just yet.**

**And a special rant for last night's episode, stop reading if you haven't seen it. But I already prepared myself not to expect anything mind blowing when it came to Bamon, but seeing Damon bump/push Bonnie ramming through her like she was non-existent, I really wanted to climb through my television and hunt him down. I told y'all he was going to be an asshole for no reason and Bonnie was just going to stand there and take it. And I feel that Shane is only going to use Bonnie, but maybe he might have a change of heart and start to like her genuinely because she is that awesome, but again, not something I'm holding my breath on. Can special needs Elena please just go sit down somewhere? That girl's stupidity and basic-ness is like a venereal disease that won't go away! Can someone please prescribe her some Valtrex or Herpexia, or _something_? Okay rant over. Love you guys and let me know what you think about this WIP.**


	2. This is What Makes Us Girls

**A/N: Hello everyone! Thank you so much for the reviews for the first chapter! For reading this period and adding to your lists. And to those who blogged about it on Tumblr, I want to give you two snaps and a double twist. I'm hoping this story does live up to everyone's expectations. The subplot is still a little murky only because I'm not sure what the deal is with The Five and the cure so forth and so on. So I'm going to be taking my time with this and updating hopefully once a week. The beginning of this is kind of vague only because we don't know what Shane's intentions are for Bonnie just yet, so I'm only making my own speculation until proven incorrect. Hope you enjoy!**

Disclaimer: These characters are the creative property of LJ Smith and The CW. No copyright infringement is intended.

**Twenty-four hours ago…**

"Just remember you are the one who's in control. You're not doing this under duress. You're not doing this to be seen as part of any group. You are the commander in chief. "

A corner of Bonnie's mouth lifted in a smile while she kept her eyes focused on the burning candle in the center of the wooden desk.

"No one has the right to push you around, Bonnie. Does steel yield to wood? Can an ant cripple a mountain? Can a worm eat an eagle? You are on top. God made Eve from Adam's rib to stand at his side, not his ankle to be at his feet. You are equal. You have nothing to be afraid of."

Professor Shane's hypnotic and cultured voice was pulling her under. Reshaping and redesigning the way Bonnie saw herself. As much as she wanted to take his words, devour them, and imbed them into her skin, there was still that part of her that was scared. Scared to do more than light a room full of candles, scared to channel the elements because Bonnie couldn't get that image of Grams out of her head. Of standing there and witnessing her grandmother being punished because she allowed her fear of losing one of her friends override her common sense. Bonnie had no idea if Grams was trying to warn her even now and was unable to do so. It was hard getting out of that place, of getting out of her head.

"Why do you need me to do this?" Bonnie questioned and looked away from the candle.

Shane sighed, identifying Bonnie's need to have her questions and fears answered and assuaged as her biggest obstacle to overcome. He knew something's about her past, knew she was extremely guarded. Shane was no psychologist but he would bet his annual salary that Bonnie might be suffering from a mild case of post-traumatic stress disorder. She didn't know this, but Bonnie sometimes jumped whenever she heard a loud noise, and she slightly cringed whenever Shane tried to get close to her. Her obvious uneasiness being alone with a man was a subtle sign that something bad usually happened to her when she was alone with one. Living in a town crawling with vampires, hybrids, and werewolves, witnessing death at an alarming rate would tear apart any young girl's psyche. The fact Bonnie had the will to get out of bed bespoke of her strength, a strength she conceived she lacked.

That wasn't the case and if she could open her mind to it, there was still so much more she could achieve.

But she needed to believe if this was ever going to work.

Shane stared into her lovely green eyes. "You care about your future, yes?"

Bonnie nodded.

"At the rate you're going do you honestly think you'll make it out of your teen years, not just physically but mentally and emotionally stable as well?"

This time around, Bonnie lowered her eyes to the flame. She frowned. Bonnie hadn't actually thought about that because she didn't have _time _to think about anything else other than saving her friends.

When this all began Shane's objective had been simple: find the cure. He needed Bonnie, and he wanted to build up her trust in him, but spending time with her, getting to know her, his own opinion about her was shifting. Not to anything that would be deemed inappropriate but perhaps questionable at best. Still, he wasn't losing sight of the finish line, yet in the process he did want Bonnie to learn to stand on her own two feet, take ownership of what was rightfully hers, and to let nothing stand in her way.

"What do you think about when you're not doing magic?" he asked.

The question surprised her. Since meeting, a majority of their conversations had centered on magic. Bonnie shrugged and looked doubtful. "How to do magic?" she laughed self-deprecatingly. "It's lame, I know, but," she sighed, "I really don't have time for anything else."

Shane was about to respond when the door to his office opened. Inwardly, Shane cursed yet displayed a face of practiced indifference.

He wasn't supposed to be here for another hour.

Bonnie stared at the newcomer. He certainly didn't look like a student but then again there wasn't an age cap in college. She titled her head to the side not unappreciative of the stranger's dashing good looks, whoever he was.

"Excuse me," Shane addressed Bonnie, and then walked over to the bald black man who seemed a little taken aback to see that Shane wasn't alone. The two men stepped out of the office. Shane closed the door behind him.

Bonnie didn't want to listen to their conversation, but it was impossible not to hear some parts of it being the rest of the office was dead silent.

Shane reentered the office a minute later and smiled.

"Do you need me to leave?" Bonnie inquired. "I can come back later if you have to meet with a…student."

"No, just clearing up a business matter," Shane pulled out a map of Virginia and spread it out on the desk, along with a handkerchief from his pocket that contained three blond hairs.

Bonnie had a vague idea on what was going on, but the purpose was unclear and made her feel edgy. "Whose hair is that?"

"It's the hair of an Original. I think you should be able to use this for a locator spell. There's some blood on a few of the strands, minute but its there."

Bonnie hiked a perfectly arched eyebrow in the air. "Come again," she dead panned. "I told you that I'm not ready to do those kinds of spells, and why the hell do you need me to locate an Original?"

"Bonnie," Shane said in that deceptively charismatic voice of his. "I know this seems…untoward because we're still getting to know each other, but there are something's out there that may seem impossible, but they are very much possible. I need you to trust me and to trust your instincts on this. The Original I need located has information. And its only information I seek. Once I have it, she goes away."

Clarity dawned on Bonnie. "Rebekah."

Shane nodded.

Bonnie tried to remember the last time she saw Rebekah and could only trace it back to the night she unbound the Original's lives. Rebekah had thanked her and made a quip about seeing her in physics class. Bonnie didn't take no damn physics.

Shane's voice interrupted her reverie. "Remember when you told me about the recurring dream you were having about a witch and five men carrying swords?"

"Yes, but I think that was based on this fable I was reading for my English class."

"Most folklore, fables, myths, legends do have a grain of truth to them," Shane went on to say. "And that dream wasn't just a dream, but it was an event that happened. Rebekah has information on it."

To Bonnie this was all speculation at best but she needed several questions answered first. "How do you know about Rebekah? How do you know about the story of the witch and the five men? How do you know _any _of this, Professor Shane? That's the one thing you haven't been open with me about. Are you being nice to me because you need information and that's it? I've been down this road before, and I didn't like how it ended then. And it didn't end well for the one who was trying to use me either," Bonnie's face became stone.

There was definite bite to her questions, Shane noticed and knew he had to tread very carefully. Bonnie was not one to mince words with, and she didn't easily fall for deception either. She might be susceptible to hypnotism, but that didn't mean she couldn't read people like a book.

Shane cleared his throat. He indicated with his hand for Bonnie to take a seat. She did while Shane took his.

"Yes, I do need information, but I also want to help you. My only ulterior motive is making a girl feel secure in her gifts because I think she's spent more than enough time being scared of her potential, and having her every step dictated by those who don't even understand the fundamentals, the basics of witchcraft. You are to be respected and yet you're not."

Bonnie rubbed her forehead in frustration. She wanted to believe that something positive was finally happening to her after all this time, but prior history would not allow her to go there.

"What are you really afraid of Bonnie?"

"Losing everything," she answered earnestly.

"What do you have left?"

It took her longer to answer the question this time around.

"What do you have left?" Shane repeated.

"My life."

"Then control it."

"This doesn't feel like control if you need me to do a locator spell to find Rebekah who has information that I doubt will benefit anyone other than you. I don't want to do this."

Shane countered. "You want things in your life to change?"

"You know I do, more than anything."

"Then that change starts with Rebekah. I'll explain. I give you my word."

**Present time…**

Elena stood up from the table staring at Bonnie in disbelief. "Bonnie what is going on…?"

"Change, Elena. Plain and simple. I know this might be a touch too complicated for your confused vampire mind to understand, but I'm not the same person," Bonnie looked around the table, "none of us are. We've been beaten up, thrown down, insulted at nearly every turn, some of us more than others and what exactly has it gotten us? Certainly not happiness. Certainly not fulfillment," Bonnie began to walk around the room. "It would appear that the one thing none of us wanted to happen, happened. Who is the root cause to all this turmoil?"

Damon began to squirm in his seat sensing and literally tasting the blame that was about to be thrown his way. He tracked Bonnie with his eyes, just waiting for the inevitable.

Klaus brightened suddenly. "Let me make a conjecture, love. You're going to lay all of this strive at my feet simply because I wanted to break my curse."

"Not everything is about you, Nik," Rebekah said snidely. "But if we're being honest, then yes your very existence is why each person at this table, with the exception of that one," she pointed at Shane, "and maybe Matt, has lost something they may never get back."

"Oh, put a sock in it, Rebekah. No one cares what you think," Klaus snapped.

Rebekah approached her brother almost willing her hand not to strike his face. It had always infuriated her that she had never been able to hurt Niklaus the way he had hurt her. She couldn't make him feel the kind of searing emotional pain she went through after Alexander's betrayal, and then having her brother rail at her for daring to fall in love and leave him and his simple-minded, one-dimensional way of living behind. He had done nothing but criticized and mocked all of her choices, yet she maintained her loyalty to him because he was family.

As Klaus so assiduously put it, they were family no longer. There was something out there thicker than blood—rage.

"Yes, because you're such an authority on everything," her nostrils flared. "You the thousand year old hybrid could have been the greatest walking supernatural to exist. Now you've reduced yourself to breaking up a high school romance, to get into some teenage bitch's panties. Who's the pathetic one between us now, Niklaus? I say it's you by a landslide victory. At least I fell in love with a _real_ man who did more than stand around and mutter the word _seriously _every two seconds_._"

Several eyes at the table flew to Caroline who looked predictably ready to kill. Tyler slipped his hand under the table and gripped her thigh as he shook his head back and forth secretly telling her to stay in her seat but above all of that keep her mouth shut.

From the fury that was puckering Klaus' face it was plain to see he didn't appreciate being called out in front of an audience where over half of the congregants fell under the age of twenty.

"And you," Rebekah turned her blazing blue eyes on Stefan who sat up a bit straighter in his seat. "You will get yours one day, either by my hand or someone else's."

"I agree," Klaus said, locking gazes with Stefan. "This is all your fault!"

"How is this my fault?"

"I knew I should have compelled you when I had the chance. You can't hold water to save your miserable life, Stefan."

"_Look_," the younger Salvatore said sharply. "I didn't say a gotdamn thing and I don't care whether you believe me or not. Your plan had holes in it like Swiss cheese. So you want to blame someone for this, take a look in the mirror, Klaus."

Damon leaned over and said. "Good one, brother." Pause. "I'm going to kick your ass when we get home."

"I've had enough of this. You. Come." Klaus reached for Rebekah to haul her out of the room, but she quickly snatched her arm away.

"No!" she said determinedly. "You're not sticking me back in that shitty box or putting your hands on me ever again."

"We'll see about that."

"I would listen to Rebekah," Bonnie interjected.

Klaus shifted to face her. "What?"

Bonnie smiled. "All of the daggers along with the remaining white oak ash and the indestructible white oak stake are now in my possession. You kill me you'll never find them. Threaten anyone I may remotely give a damn about, you'll never find them. You want them it's going to cost you. College doesn't finance itself, and a witch has got to eat."

Klaus snorted and stood with his hands planted on his hips. Stefan didn't know what to make of these turn of events and that same sentiment was reflected on Matt and Jeremy's faces, although Jeremy looked smug for some strange reason.

Stefan began to think. It wasn't hard to figure out that Bonnie did a locator spell, found Rebekah, and woke her up. How Bonnie even knew Rebekah had been daggered in the first place was the one million dollar question. It wasn't like he spent an awful amount of time with Bonnie, and other than being invited into her home, which Stefan knew was not a light thing, he had pretty much maintained his distance from Bonnie. Still, Stefan already knew he would be nominated to head up the fact-finding expedition. If he would even be trusted with that assignment.

Caroline didn't like this. She didn't like being insulted and she sure as hell didn't like witnessing her friend going over to the dark side. This Bonnie was vastly different from the one she had grown up with, different from the small town girl who transformed into a powerful witch, and was nearly toppled over after suffering crippling losses, but Bonnie had always found a way to bounce back.

Apparently she had but there was a different air to her, surrounding her. And she spoke like an up and coming entrepreneur, and one who also found basic people unacceptable.

"When did you turn into an extortionist, Bonnie?" Damon asked.

"Oh, he knows my name now," Bonnie made eye contact with the raven-haired vampire that had been a thorn in her side long enough. "It's not extortion. I like to think of it as reparations. If the spirits could stop pummeling me with consequences, and actually go after you evil sons of bitches, well maybe we all wouldn't be here. In a few days you, Stefan, and Klaus will be getting something in the mail. If you don't adhere to the deadline given," Bonnie paused for effect, "let's just say you'll find out what happens. Elena," the young witch looked at her lifelong friend who was still trying to figure out what was going on, "thank you for dinner. It really was a sweet gesture. Professor if you're ready, I am."

"Now hold the fucking phone," Damon stood up from the table. "You just don't drop the mike on the stage and then leave. What's going on, Jugdy? Where is this new attitude coming from all of a sudden, and why do I get the distinct impression that that asshole is behind this?" he pointed at Shane.

"I think you're the last person to be calling anyone out, Damon," Bonnie chastised. "Furthermore, I don't have to explain myself, least of all to you."

Bonnie and Professor Shane made tracks towards the door, but Elena vampire sped to Bonnie, took her by the arm, and the two of them disappeared upstairs into old mayor Lockwood's office.

"Bonnie, talk to me," Elena ran a hand through her hair. "This isn't you."

"What's not me?"

"_This_," Elena waved her hand wildly around. "From what I heard it seems…it seemed more like a boardroom take over or something. What has that professor gotten you into? And if Rebekah was daggered, which she totally deserved, why on earth would you wake her up?! She tried to kill me. She killed Alaric for goodness sake. She's not your friend, and she's not on your side no matter what she may have told you."

Bonnie took a step towards Elena. "Let me be clear on something's, Elena. We really haven't confided in each for a while and I kept mum about things because you were going through a tough time. For the past year that's all you've been doing. Going through one tough time after another. And little by little, our friendship kind of drifted away. I call you my friend in name only. It's a title when it used to be a lifestyle between us. We were friends, sisters, I said I would die for you, and well, I've upheld my end of the bargain. But I had to ask myself a really important question: what exactly am I getting out of this?"

"So-so-so…are you trying to say that you don't want to be friends anymore?"

"All I'm trying to say is what does being your friend get anyone other than a short life expectancy, and crushing disappointment? Things have to change, Elena. I can't keep…allowing people to walk all over me or try to control me and my magic. I'm simply looking out for myself like your ancestor did."

Elena blinked at the Katherine implication. Dread erupted in her stomach as hot bile flirted with the back of her throat. Elena felt like she was grasping at straws. In Bonnie's eyes the usual openness that was there was gone, vacant. She was essentially closed off. There was no malice not even anger in her voice, nor resignation, but acceptance hinting that Bonnie could live a life without her and not even mourn the loss of their friendship.

Things couldn't be this bad between them, Elena thought. Bonnie would never cast aside their friendship. Yes, they had their ups and downs, what friendship that spanned fifteen years didn't? And sure, her time might have been split between the Salvatore's and Klaus, and whoever else rolled into town specifically looking to kill her, but Elena always went to bed at night secure in the fact that she could depend on her friends.

Their foundation was so precarious, rocky, and shaky Elena knew that one wrong step and she would fall underground. She had to make Bonnie see that their friendship, their sisterhood could be salvaged, and that it wasn't completely bankrupt.

"I need to go," Bonnie spoke softly.

Elena's overworked tear ducts activated once more. "Bonnie, please don't go. We should talk things over."

Bonnie paused at the door. "I'm done talking. Besides, actions speak louder than words. Have a good night, Elena."

Back downstairs, Bonnie ran into Rebekah who was digging the heel of her boot into the floor scuffling it.

"Would you like a ride home?"

Rebekah's head snapped up at the offer. "No, I'll be fine. But thank you for the offer."

Bonnie nodded, and then waved at Matt, Jeremy, and Caroline. She said nothing to the other vampires who were pretty much engaged in their own debate.

When Elena came back downstairs she saw that Caroline had gotten up from the table and had joined in the heated exchange taking place between Klaus, Stefan, and Damon. She walked over to Matt and whispered in his ear. He looked a little apprehensive but then followed Elena into the kitchen.

Something vaguely registered with him the last time he was alone in a kitchen with Elena. But he couldn't remember what or why deep down his survival instinct wanted to kick in. That didn't stop him from rolling up the sleeve to his shirt, exposing his wrist, the one Elena liked biting into.

Elena licked her lips. She noticed that whenever she started to feel anxious her hunger would become a persistent tick she couldn't dislodge. She hated using Matt like this, but her only other option was starvation.

"I'm sorry," she apologized first and then bit into him.

Matt shifted his attention from the sting of Elena's fangs piercing his skin and the suction of feeling her mouth withdraw blood from his veins. Instead he viewed this as one friend helping another, but he wasn't sure how long he could keep this up without inadvertently becoming anemic.

"Okay, I think that's enough," Matt laughed nervously as Elena's grip on his arm nearly became crushing.

She continued to drink and this really triggered something in Matt's memory, but everything was still cloudy like trying to remember a dream after waking up.

"Elena!"

With one final aggressive pull of his wrist, Elena let go. "I'm sorry," she repeated her earlier sentiment and wondered if those words held the same meaning since she said them so often.

A little light-headed, Matt tried to shake off her apology. "I'm getting out of here."

"Matt, please…"

"Be careful, I know," he muttered and nearly collided into a wall as he attempted to make his way out of the kitchen.

Elena slumped against the counter, blood coating her lips. She was a horrible person and Bonnie's question began to haunt her:

What did anyone get out of being her friend other than a short life expectancy and crushing disappointment? Elena wiped her lips.

* * *

Rebekah stepped into her bedroom after exiting the shower. She tightened the knot on her robe and ran a towel through her wet hair. She was alone once more in her new house, the first house she was the sole proprietor of, and the first home she didn't share with Niklaus.

Anyone else would feel an extreme sense of freedom, but Rebekah couldn't get her emotions to line up with her expectations. It was difficult considering for nine hundred and ten years living with Klaus, traveling the world over was all she knew. Unlearning all of that and essentially standing on her two feet was new ground for Rebekah and so far it would appear she was mucking it all up.

She couldn't believe yet believe that Klaus would dagger her—again. She couldn't and could believe that he would leave her car wrecked on the side of the road to rescue his stupid crush, and yet he wanted to lecture her on the fundamentals of loyalty and family. She meant what she said to her brother tonight, he would not put his hands on her ever again. If he was going to betray her, screw her over, he would have to do it himself. The coward.

Rebekah sat down on her vanity and stared at her face. She saw without seeing. Klaus hadn't been the only person to hurt her, and perhaps she trusted men so easily because she didn't get what she needed from her biological father. Anyone else would say that was a piss poor excuse to place your heart on a silver platter and hand it over, but for once Rebekah had wanted something all to herself. Something her family couldn't taint.

In short, she just wanted to be loved for herself and nothing more. Accepted.

Then she began to wonder if perhaps she was just meant to be alone.

Someone rung her doorbell.

Rebekah listened and tried to ascertain if her late night visitor was her brother, one of those pestilent Salvatore jackasses, the baby Barbie vampire, or the whiny newbie vampire.

Sauntering to the front door, Rebekah threw it open. "Oh, it's you," she said without a drop of cheer in her voice.

Bonnie stood on the welcome mat and eyed Rebekah. "Hi. Is-is this a bad time?"

"What are you doing here?" Rebekah countered. "I've already told you and the Professor everything I know."

"I know, but…I wanted to check on you. See how you were doing."

This surprised Rebekah greatly. "Why? I thought you would have sided with your friends and would begin plotting an even more elaborate way to kill me or my brother."

"I meant what I said, Rebekah."

Rebekah folded her arms over her chest and leaned against the door. "You have just as much reason to want me out of the picture as Klaus. I don't understand what you're hoping to get out of all of this."

"In all honesty I don't want anything," Bonnie confessed. "I don't know anything about you, Rebekah but even I can recognize that being treated like garbage by your own flesh and blood is low, and there's no excuse for what Klaus has done to you."

Rebekah swallowed hard. She didn't like discussing her fucked up relationship with her brother, especially not to outsiders. She and Nik had their own understanding with each other, but ever since he became a hybrid, the brother she used to love and follow around disappeared and never came back. Klaus could be ruthless and unforgiving, but there had been another side to Nik, a vulnerable side that he hardly revealed to anyone except her. He may have shown a little of it to that troll Caroline, but in Rebekah's eyes the girl was undeserving of someone like Klaus. He could do so much better.

But it was his life. If she could show a modicum of respect for his, he should have no problem doing the same for her, but apparently, Klaus could not stand for anyone outside of himself to have nice things. He had drawn the line in the stand the minute making hybrids became more important than his family.

Rebekah knew she should have parted ways with Klaus as soon as she was awakened months ago, but old habits die hard.

Bonnie and Rebekah stared at one another—pensively. "I'm sorry but I find your sentiment…you killed yourself to bring your friend back from the dead, and now it appears that your friendship is hanging on by a thread. May I be so bold to ask what's changed?"

"Elena changed."

"She's a vampire," Rebekah said as if that solved the mysteries of the world.

"No, she changed way before she became a vampire. I don't want to talk about her. Other than your brother, who do you really have, Rebekah?"

The vampire in question dropped her eyes to her feet. There was still Elijah but he was too noble for her liking. He never cared to indulge in the simple pleasures of immortality. Kol, he was too unstable. Finn was dead so that left Klaus.

One would think being the only girl in a family of boys would mean around the clock protection or companionship in some form, but it was like Rebekah had a naturally built-in repellent that kept her brothers a safe distance away. The only one not affected had been Klaus, but that was only because he had been the black sheep, the illegitimate son, the bastard proof of their mother's infidelity.

"I think you know the answer to that, Bonnie. So is trying to befriend me your way of sticking it to Elena?"

"No," Bonnie smile yet Rebekah knew that loosely translated into a yes. "I'm just here to say that if you ever want to talk, I'm open. Us damaged girls we need to stick together."

Silence descended on them before Bonnie smiled once more and then turned to head towards her car.

"Bonnie!" Rebekah didn't continue until Bonnie refaced her. "Do you drink tea?"

"Sometimes."

"I make a real mean pot of Earl Grey if you're interested."

"I'll keep that in mind. Have a good night, Rebekah."

Rebekah closed the door and shook her head. "And you as well."

Chapter end.

**A/N: I don't know if hair can be used to do a locator spell, so for now that's what I'm going with because who would have access to Rebekah's blood or Klaus'? I'm no expert, so that's all I'm going to say about that. So please don't get on me about that, okay lol. I know some readers can be downright picky when it comes to sticking to the mythology and having continuity so, when you're operating on scraps of information this is what you get. Right now I'm purposely keeping everything vague about how much Shane knows about Bonnie, how much of his plan he's revealed to her, and his deal with Connor.**

**I know I ranted my first chapter, but there are no words left to describe what a dick move the writers pulled in having Elena of ALL people kill Connor. He can take on Tyler, Klaus, Damon, but Elena does him in? And of course the fandom rejoiced with the exclusion of us in the Bennett Brigade. I'm not terribly surprised because this is the formula: kick ass character + being black = death. And I didn't have to sit through hours of Algebra to figure that out. And there's so much I can comment on, but I'm just going to save that all for this fic. Thank you guys again for reading! Love you! Oh, and ipodchick if you're reading this, love you. I've kind of wanted to say that for a while lol. And Raveyrai you are the flawless one.  
**


	3. The Least I Can Do

**A/N: Hi, sorry for the long wait for an update. Caught some inspiration and this is what I came up with. Enjoy!**

Disclaimer: These characters are the creative property of LJ Smith and The CW. No copyright infringement is intended.

He could smell the blood on her breath. It wasn't an overwhelming smell like alcohol or morning breath, yet potent in its own right since his nose had been trained to sniff out the minutest trace of blood. Stefan pressed his foot harder on the gas, his pale hand tightening on the steering wheel almost wishing it were someone's neck as he gunned his Porsche down the road.

Surreptitiously, Elena stared at her boyfriend over the console noting that Stefan was wearing his angry face—for all good reason—she knew that, but that didn't stop her own irritation with him from rising to the surface.

At the last second she noticed that he had pulled into the driveway of her home, and not at the boardinghouse. Stefan cut the engine and climbed out of the car. Elena sat for a moment before she did the same. He was already waiting on the porch by the time she ambled her way to unlock the front door. The tension that buzzed between them was unlike anything she had ever experienced before. Not since she was human and she was a witness to Stefan battling his bloodlust, he had wanted nothing to do with her out of fear of hurting her. Elena had been so naïve and full of hope back then that her love and belief in Stefan would be able to get him out of any hardship he had to deal with. It had been a nice motion, but Stefan needed more than hand-holding and declarations that she wasn't going to give up on him in order to beat the monster that lived inside of him.

They weren't those two people anymore. Tragic events shaped and changed them that most mornings Elena could barely recognize herself in the mirror. She still looked the same but on the inside that's where everything about her had gone through its own transition long before she ever became a vampire.

Elena walked into the kitchen desiring a glass of water to rinse away remnants of Matt's blood. Stefan stood behind a chair at the table, and drummed his fingers on the back of it, watching her, waiting for her inquisition to begin. What she didn't know was that he had one of his own.

Shortly after Bonnie, Rebekah, and Shane left the Lockwood estate, and Stefan had practically talked himself to boredom in defending himself against Klaus' accusations, he began to listen to a conversation taking place in the foyer. It was a conversation between his girlfriend and brother.

"_This whole night was a total disaster. Bonnie teaming up with Rebekah and that professor seems like he's pulling strings behind the scene. I feel like I'm losing my best friend, Damon."_

"_Bonnie's made her choice and now we have to make ours. You're a good friend, Elena. So what this night didn't end the way you wanted it to. I enjoyed myself."_

_Elena had laughed softly, that much Stefan could detect and he heard what sounded like her hand brushing against fabric, more than likely she was touching Damon's arm. _

"_I guess I can always count on you for some type of comedic relief."_

"_You can count on me for a lot more than that," Damon said suggestively. _

And that's where Stefan purposely lost interest in their conversation.

Elena placed her back to the sink and looked at Stefan head on. He promised that he wouldn't keep anything from her, but once again he went back on his word. He was in league with Klaus for some reason or another—more than likely it was probably a bullshit reason, and one of her best friends was being seduced by the dark side or what have you. Lines across the board were being blurred and Elena wasn't sure how much more she could take, her blood issues notwithstanding, she felt like she was at her wits end and was beginning to question who she could trust.

"So," Elena began, "you're working with Klaus?"

Stefan sighed and studied his boots for a moment before lifting his head. "In a way, yes."

"On what?"

"I can't say."

Elena folded her arms over her chest. "You've been compelled?"

"No."

"So you're keeping things from me of your own free will."

"I just need you to trust me," Stefan spoke evenly though his grip on the chair had tightened. "I'm handling it."

Elena huffed. "Handling what? We promised that we would always be open and honest with each other, Stefan, but you're making back door deals with Klaus who has had a hand in hurting all of my friends and my family, and you."

"Damon included in the list of people Klaus has hurt?"

Elena blinked a little taken aback by the question. "Y-yes," she answered tentatively. "You know he's been hurt by Klaus as well."

Stefan nodded and then smiled wildly for a moment. Elena tensed wondering what did she just step into. She pushed away from the sink and approached the opposite side of the table.

"Look, Stefan all things considered I feel it's a little…hypocritical of you to take Klaus' side in whatever the two of you are planning or have planned. Just tell me what's going on."

"And why should I tell you anything, Elena? You didn't tell me about your issues with keeping blood down. You ran off to my brother and basically blood fucked him in a bathroom."

Elena visibly bristled. Stefan _never _used that kind of language around her and he never spoke to her like that even when his humanity was temporarily gone.

"I ask you to trust me and that's the least you can do after everything that's happened."

"It wasn't like that, Stefan."

"Oh yeah, so what was it like?" he stepped around the table and walked up to Elena who felt caught in a web, saw the spider approaching, and couldn't make her escape. "Did he tell you that you needed to drink from a warm source? That you needed fresh blood in you? Is that what he said? Did he turn himself into a sacrificial lamb on your behalf because he wanted to uphold your compassion for human life?"

Elena gulped and guiltily looked at the tiled floor. Her body began shaking and already the bottom of her eyes were lining with tears.

"You're never going to forgive me for that, are you?" she asked quietly.

"I don't exactly remember hearing you apologize. But I guess it wasn't entirely your fault since you were manipulated and didn't know any better. You know, Bonnie has the right idea. Things need to change." Pause. "I don't want you hanging around Damon anymore."

Elena's head snapped up so fast that the room momentarily swam around her. "What?"

"He's my brother. _My brother," _Stefan repeated emphatically. "If you had a sister would you want me running to her with all of my problems? I let things carry on the way they have because I didn't want to believe there was no humanity left in Damon, and he's proven that he does care. But I'm done sharing you with him. You are to never to see him again in private, Elena. I'm the one you chose to be with and its time you start acting like you give a damn about this relationship."

Elena opened her mouth to speak her case, but found herself inexplicably standing alone in the kitchen.

* * *

There was a whole genre of music Rebekah Mikaelson had missed out on in the ninety years she had been entombed by her own brother. She quickly learned that no one did The Charleston anymore, although it made a minor comeback from the pop queen herself Beyonce. But now that she was liberated from doing her brother's bidding at the snap of his fingers, Rebekah was immersing herself in the world of Michael Jackson.

Her jubilation was short-lived as her door bell rung. She cut down the volume of her sound system and shuffled her way to the door singing along to the lyrics of P.Y.T.

Once she opened the door, however, her joy was nixed like an umbilical cord. Rolling her cobalt eyes, Rebekah folded her arms across her chest.

"What do you want, Niklaus?"

The hybrid grinned hugely towards his baby sister trying not to cringe from the music she was rupturing her eardrums to. What he wouldn't give to go back to the twenties and stay there permanently. It was quite possibly the only mildly happy decade of his life.

"Nice dwellings, sister," he tried to peek inside but couldn't see very much considering Rebekah was barring the door.

"What are you doing here?" Rebekah raised her voice.

"To see you, of course. We are the only family we have left in this town. There's no need to pretend we're strangers to one another."

Rebekah sniffed. She smelled a rat. She knew the only reason for this "visit" from her brother was because he wanted something. When had he not wanted something? It had nothing to do with the fact that he missed having her company. Granted it had been less than a week since the last time they laid eyes on each other, it was a week Rebekah had lived in peace and serenity.

"You know something I've learned about you, Niklaus? You only want a family around when it's beneficial for you. It gives you plenty of pawns to sacrifice so you can make your grand escape. Well, I'm not falling for it. Not this time. You exiled me from your life and I must say that I am enjoying myself."

Klaus' blood red lips fell into a hard line, and his gaze turned as cold as arctic ice. Ah, there he is, Rebekah said to herself, the real Saint Nik.

"Look, you have every right to be upset with me, Rebekah. I betrayed your trust, treated you like rubbish on the street. Just…allow me the opportunity to make things right between us."

Rebekah lifted a corner of her lips in a sarcastic grin. "Caroline put you up to this? Said she couldn't date a man who could be so cruel towards his sister. You are mightily pathetic."

Klaus attempted to take a threatening step forward only to find out the hard way that he couldn't get in. Annoyingly his eyes traveled heavenward as if expecting to see a portcullis lowering, blocking entry.

Rebekah couldn't contain her smile of pleasure. "You didn't think I would actually buy a home in my own name did you?"

"You're being stupid, Rebekah. And petty, might I add. What do you honestly think you'll gain by remaining in this one trick pony town? News flash, no one likes you. No one will ever go out of their way to befriend you. Desperate women are fun to whore around with, but they easily get discarded like a used condom in the morning. Just as Damon did with you," Klaus' smile was nothing less than evil. "And that human, Matt, he'd rather have a go at it with a dog than ever take you seriously. You may call me pathetic, but even I know when to leave well enough alone. But not you, dear sister. You're just a glutton for punishment."

Rebekah was silent for a while letting his words sink in. She waited to feel the blow to her self-esteem, but surprisingly there was nothing. His words didn't have the same bite as they once did. In fact, they made her want to laugh.

"Does this mean you're interested in the human? Considering between the two of us, you are the one who turns into a cocker spaniel. Mark my words, brother, one day _you _will be the one looking for a hope, prayer, and friend and will find yourself shit out of luck. Now, will you kindly remove your _ass_ from my property?" Rebekah slammed the door in his face.

Seething, Klaus studied the door for a second before walking away. Over the centuries he and Rebekah had had their share of spats, but it typically blew over in a matter of hours. She had found it impossible to remain angry with him, but he could honestly say he didn't like what was happening to Rebekah. Dare he say it, she seemed to be acquiring a backbone, and this one wasn't made out of fluff, but actual steel.

_The witch_, Klaus thought. Bonnie had done something to alter his sister's behavior. A spell to switch her loyalties. That had to be the reason. Sure, in retrospect Klaus could admit that he may have overreacted by denouncing her as family, and snapping her neck. Sue him. But she had tried his hand by destroying his chances of building his hybrid army. He had been angry, was still angry when he thought about it, because no matter what obstacles or adversity they had to face, they faced it together, and this had been the second time Rebekah defied him.

He couldn't stand for it. She wanted to abandon him for Stefan Salvatore back in the twenties when she fancied herself in love with The Ripper. Klaus took her freedom, silenced her for ninety years and he had not once regretted his decision. Rebekah needed to learn that her place was by his side—no questions asked. And he only awakened her because she had something he needed to in order to gain answers on why his hybrids were dying prematurely. Even then she had been of no help to him.

Was it so hard to find reliable people to employ in his camp, Klaus wondered. The obvious answer was no, but it was turning out to be quite the opposite.

Now his sister had him at yet another disadvantage. His men were still looking for Alexander's sword in Italy. Digging through several centuries of dirt would take some time. But he wanted the location of the white oak daggers and stake. With those out of his possession anything was liable to happen.

Retrieving his cell phone from his inner coat pocket, Klaus called his right hand man. Or at the very least, his used-to-be right hand man.

* * *

**Mystic Grill**

Donned in her favorite violet dress that she paired with an indigo mini leather jacket, and a pair of black ankle booties, Bonnie Bennett strolled into the restaurant like she had a score to settle. And she did. Several if she wanted to be technical about it.

Several heads turned as she wove through the tables. Most of the leers came from men who knew better than to ogle an obvious teenager, yet Bonnie didn't mind. She felt dangerous and beautiful—two feelings that weren't exclusively synonymous with her. She could question where this feeling of empowerment stemmed from but she already knew. Being around Professor Atticus Shane certainly had improved her outlook, not just on life, but on herself.

It was a much welcomed gift from all the anger and sadness that she carried on her back like saddle bags.

"Hey, Bon," Matt greeted as Bonnie took a seat at the bar. "What can I get you?"

"You know what I like, Matt. My usual will do."

"Okay," he smiled and took two steps away in the direction of the register to place her order, but Bonnie stopped him.

"Matt?"

"Yeah?"

"On second thought, I think I might switch things up. Change is supposed to be good right?"

With his arms stretched out, palms leaning against the bar, Matt shrugged his brawny shoulders. The movement caught Bonnie's attention and she studied him for a moment, noticing Matt wasn't as lean as he used to be. He filled out his shirts more, and even his face which had always been boyishly handsome was now beginning to look more mature, manly, lived in.

Her viridian eyes drifted down his toned arms and the dusting of blond hair on the back of them, but suddenly they stopped when she saw two telltale puncture wounds on his wrist.

Elena was still using him as a blood bag.

"I guess," Matt answered her question which broke Bonnie out of her musings. "At least that's what the experts on change say."

For a moment Bonnie was confused by his words and then remembered their earlier conversation.

Bonnie nodded her head. "Right, exactly. I think I want to try that Tilapia dish instead of the grilled chicken."

"Living on the edge, I see," Matt grinned. "One tilapia special coming up. Do you want your usual Coke or is there something else you rather have?"

Bonnie nibbled a corner of her lip and appeared to be in deep thought before answering. "I'll take a cherry Pepsi, add in a little ginger ale, and about a third of fruit punch. Can you also throw in some real cherries?"

Matt's eyes widened. "Such an elaborate non-alcoholic drink," he teased and moved off to place her order and fix her drink.

While he was off doing that, Bonnie took the time to crowd surf. Everyone who was present, she only knew them by association. She wondered for the umpteenth time if it was time to make new friends, but the answer was always a kick to her solar plexus.

Moments later Matt sat her lovely concoction down in front of her. Bonnie took the paper tip off the end of her straw and took a sip.

"Not bad. You want to try some?" she pushed the glass towards Matt. He inserted his own straw and took a much larger gulp.

"It's not bad, but a little too sweet for my liking," he remarked.

"What are you doing after work?" Bonnie asked and took another sip of her drink.

Matt leaned his elbows on the counter and looked around at all the familiar faces. Living in a small town could be real convenient and then inconvenient at the same time. There was but a handful of activities a guy his age could do on a Friday night. He could meet up in the woods with his buddies and drink himself into a stupor. Go home and play video games until his eyes felt like they were about to rot out of his head. Kill a vampire. Be used as vampire food. The options were just so abundant, Matt thought sardonically.

Just thinking of personally being Elena's sippy cup made him scratch at the puncture wounds on his wrist. Matt became noticeably conscious of the fact that Bonnie was watching him.

Matt smiled sheepishly.

"You don't have to continue feeding Elena," Bonnie said, lowering her voice while she said it.

"I know, but I still feel responsible for what happened to her."

Bonnie sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Matt, you had no idea that she had vampire blood in her system, and you didn't know that Rebekah was going to stand in the middle of the road and cause the accident. Those things are not your fault."

Her words made sense, and Matt had gone over the scenario a million and one times in his head, but at the end of the day, if he had never went along with Jeremy's plan to sneak Elena out of town, then the events which unfolded never would have occurred.

"But it was my stupid plan that started everything, Bonnie. Being there for her in this capacity is the least I can do. I owe her my life. If she hadn't told Stefan to save me…I would have died. He didn't have to do what he did. I know if the decision was left up to Damon…" Matt didn't finish his thought and he didn't need to.

"Fuck Damon and his brother," Bonnie deadpanned. "Your life is worth just the same as hers," Bonnie intoned. "Don't let the Salvatore's continue to make you feel guilty for being alive. You don't have to earn anything, Matt, and you don't have to take it as penance to personally feed Elena."

Matt nodded although his face still didn't look convinced that he didn't deserve this fate.

"I wanted to save her from all of her problems too, fix the things that were wrong, but at some point we have to stop."

"So everything you said at dinner the other night…you meant it?" Matt questioned.

Bonnie's piping hot food came out of the kitchen and was sat before her. She thanked the waiter and then unrolled her utensils and placed the napkin in her lap.

"I did," Bonnie replied.

"I gotta ask…why did you wake up Rebekah? If she was daggered…why not keep her that way?"

"Because Bonnie obviously knows the value of a good thing when she sees it."

Matt stiffened and then stood to his full height as he looked at Rebekah who appeared to walk fresh off a runway. If she weren't related to Klaus and a vampire he might give dating her a second thought, but he couldn't trust her, and Matt was a stickler for trust.

Bonnie turned a little to acknowledge Rebekah before giving her full attention back to her food.

Rebekah slid on the stool next to Bonnie and dropped her eyes to the food decorating her plate. Bonnie had yet to taste her fish which smelled a little rank to Rebekah.

"You might want to send that dish back to the kitchen. I believe…from the smell…that fish is at least ten days past its expiration date."

Bonnie stared down at her food mortified for a moment before pushing the plate away.

"I'll take this back to the kitchen," Matt picked up the plate and disappeared leaving the witch and original vampire alone.

The two young women stared at one another speculatively.

"I couldn't help but overhear your conversation with Matt," Rebekah began. "Do you really hold me responsible for Elena's death?"

"You went after her with the expressed purpose of killing her because you thought your brother was dead. Yet if I had been in your shoes…I might have done the same thing."

This surprised Rebekah greatly. She always figured that Bonnie was one for loyalty and solidarity and not going against the status quo, which meant protecting that doppelbitch at all costs. And if anyone made an attempt on the precious one's life they were as good as dead. Wasn't that the general consensus?

"Really?" Rebekah asked curiously.

Bonnie shrugged. "If you haven't noticed…I don't have much family left."

"So you understand why I had to avenge my brother."

"But what has it gotten you?" Bonnie countered.

That question drew Rebekah up short. It hadn't gotten her a damn thing. Yet Rebekah had an observation of her own to make.

"And what has being the resident witch gotten you?" Rebekah challenged.

Bonnie drew back a little. In all the conversations she had engaged in, not once had that subject ever been brought up for discussion. What had sacrificing her life for her "friends" gotten her? Nearly killed at least a dozen times, pain, suffering, misery, and very few thanks. Bonnie wasn't in it for the notoriety. She wasn't looking for sainthood or to be knighted, or made into a queen. Her attitude had been: if she didn't do it, who would? No one around her was half as competent to come up with plans that actually saw the light of success. Protecting the town was her job, her duty, as Grams hammered into her head, but Bonnie realized that she needed to follow her own words, her own advice. She needed to get to a point where could say no!

As the silence between them progressed, Rebekah wondered if maybe she touched on a subject that was controversial, taboo. That hadn't been her intentions, but quite frankly she was tired of having to defend herself.

Bonnie tapped her nails along the bar top. "You're right, Rebekah. It hasn't gotten me very much."

"Then I guess that's something else we have in common. We do things for those we love and other than that fact, we have no reason why we do them. What's our endgame?"

"I have no idea," Bonnie answered honestly, and with a smile. It felt…nice to be able to talk with someone about something very few people would understand. All of her friends had issues and insecurities they had to work through, were still working through, but not only that, they had a support system. Who did she _really _have other than Caroline and on occasion Jeremy, but his loyalty would have been split considering if he didn't do his part in keeping his sister alive, he truly would have no one.

Rebekah flagged down the bartender. "We can sit here all night comparing notes on who's had the more miserable life…"

"I think you'd win by a landslide."

To that, Rebekah couldn't disagree. "Or we could actually talk. Talk of things that have nothing to do with your being a witch and my being an indestructible vampire. We're just girls, Bonnie. I think it's time we remembered that."

When the bartender approached, Rebekah worked her charm. Bonnie sat back and watched.

Two hours later they were seated at a booth. Empty shot glasses littered the table as well as a finished platter of chicken wings and Bonnie's cheeks were inflamed. She couldn't believe the questions Rebekah kept firing away at her.

"I don't think that's legal," Bonnie guffawed.

"It might not be but I heard that its…well worth going to jail for." Pause. "Thank you."

Bonnie stared at Rebekah inquisitively. "For what?"

If it was one thing Rebekah hated it was being vulnerable and especially in front of someone who didn't know or understand her. She had been burned so many times in the past trying to build a life and existence outside of her brother, that she wondered if she was insane for putting her trust in the first person to shower her with attention, to make her feel as if she mattered. On the surface, Rebekah knew the only reason Bonnie had awakened her was because she needed information about the rumored vampire cure, but she could have easily daggered her again, yet she decided to spare her that fate.

"You had every reason to leave me in that coffin, but you didn't. I owe you a great debt, Bonnie."

"You don't owe me anything, Rebekah. I wasn't honest with you earlier."

Rebekah quirked her head to the side, her eyes narrowed a bit in suspicion. Well, it didn't take long for the betrayal to happen.

Bonnie licked her lips and then slid to the edge of the booth. "When you asked me if I blamed you for what happened to Elena…when I first found out…I did. And maybe I still do, but I'm not angry. Not anymore. This was bound to happen sooner or later."

Rebekah nodded. "I can be the bigger woman and take my share in the blame, but I won't apologize. I've seen this show before with Niklaus and Elijah. When will men stop being so gullible?"

Bonnie smiled. "When they actually develop brains."

The two young women laughed.

"You're not like your friends," Rebekah observed. "Everyone else has already written me off and I could care less, but with you when you have just as much reason not to extend what appears to be friendship…"

"Rebekah," Bonnie interrupted. "I told you girls like us need to stick together. People talk because they love hearing themselves speak, but when I say something, I mean it. At the end of the day we are who we are, and I was never made to be like everyone else. I take ownership of that now and I don't look it at like it's a bad thing. I think for myself. Just like you."

"I think you might have a slight misconception of me, Bonnie."

"How so?"

Rebekah picked up the salt shaker and then started pushing it back and forth between her hands. "I'm not as misguided as I appear. Some of the things I do, I do because I know it will hurt someone."

"Who isn't guilty of that? What do you want out of life, Rebekah?"

"Not to be used and then treated like a whore on the street."

"Then don't be used and treated like a whore on the street," Bonnie picked up her shot glass and held it up to Rebekah who reciprocated the action and tapped her glass with Bonnie's.

"Sometimes in life it _is_ that simple," Bonnie said.

* * *

**Salvatore Boardinghouse**

Damon closed the door as he eyed the two certified envelops in his hand. One was addressed to him, the other to Stefan, and from their weight alone, Damon already guessed at what laid inside.

Contracts of some sort.

So apparently Glinda the good witch wasn't playing when she said that he and his brother would be receiving something in the mail. Damon had no interest in finding out the intricacies of the game Bonnie wanted to engage in. He never mistook her for someone to be petty, but then again it wasn't like he spent a whole lot of his free time trying to crawl inside her brain and figure out her mind.

Stefan came pounding down the steps and entered the living room. "What's that?" he asked.

"Something from Bonnie," Damon held up the envelopes and then passed the one addressed to Stefan to him.

A curious eyebrow lifted in the air as Stefan accepted the envelope and pulled the tab opening it. He pulled out a thick stack of papers, and quickly flicked through them his eyes catching key words and phrases. But then his hand stopped on a page that had a long list of dollar signs and their corresponding amount.

Damon was seated on the couch leafing through his copy, scoffing, laughing, and rolling his eyes as he went.

"'Failure to comply by the date stated on this contract will result in penalties that may be irreversible.' She's charging us for every single spell she's done dating all the way back to…November of 2009 which brings us or I should say me to a grand total of ten thousand, seven-hundred and ninety-two bucks and fifty-eight cents. This little bitch is on drugs if she thinks I'm going to pay her one red cent of my hard- earned money. I don't even recall asking her to do half of this shit," Damon slapped the contract on the coffee table.

Stefan shook his head. The amount of charges he racked up came to close to twenty-five thousand dollars. Bonnie hadn't just charged them per spell, but she added up the costs of the nosebleeds she suffered, lost of consciousness, being possessed, the hours she spent living in the dilapidated witch mansion cut off from civilization, the hours she slaved away trying to open up Esther's spelled coffin, gas mileage in driving around town doing their bidding, supplies, being cutoff from her ancestors, faking her death, Abby all of that had been tabulated and still Stefan felt as if they were getting off much too easily.

"Quit your complaining and just write the check, Damon. She lost her grandmother and mother because of us. This is the least we can do."

"No, the least we can do is allow her to live."

"You can not be that damn ignorant or heartless," Stefan muttered irritably.

Damon stared at his brother and then smiled. "No one pointed a gun at her head and no one _forced _her to help us."

"You sure about that?" Stefan asked skeptically.

Damon was silent for a moment wanting to get off this topic. "What's gotten your panties in a bind this morning? Someone hide your hair gel?"

Stefan said nothing. Only grabbed his car keys ready to get as far away from his brother as possible.

"You're fucking joke," Stefan muttered on his way out the door.

A little taken aback by the comment, Damon wondered for a tenth of a second on what was bothering Stefan. It took a lot to bend him out of shape. Perhaps there was trouble in paradise but that had pretty much been the case ever since Elena turned.

This wouldn't be Damon's first time thinking about Elena this morning. Usually she was on his mind when he woke up. To distract himself he picked up the contract, well he should say ultimatum and actually read the whole thing word-for-word. The minute he was done, he pushed himself off the couch, walked over to the fireplace and lit it.

Bonnie wanted to charge for her services, that's fine and it was her prerogative. But it appeared she had forgotten that most of the spells she did to save their hides, they had been joint ventures. Damon had added his vampire muscle when needed and no, it wasn't always a squeaky clean process from start to finish, but they typically got the results they were after. He could certainly admire her ingenuity, but Damon could just as easily send her a bill for all the times he came riding in on his black horse to save her britches.

Once the fire was going at just the right temperature, he tossed the documents inside.

At the last second he grew worried that perhaps that might not have been the smartest move to make. Witches always had tricks up their sleeves. And consequences were nearly attached to everything. Yet Damon was rooted to the spot as he watched the papers burn.

The front door to his house opened and he quickly spun around, but then relaxed. It was the girl of his earlier musings.

"Hey, Damon," Elena stuffed her hands in her jacket pockets. "We need to talk."

Chapter end.

**A/N: I want Bonnie and Rebekah's friendship to be a slow build. They still aren't sure they can trust one another, but they see they have a lot of common and will start to bond because of that. And my hope is that their friendship will eclipse everything else. And Stefan…why can't he say this on the show! I'm not entirely sure what I'm going to do with his character just yet, but I know one thing he's done being a doormat to both Elena and Damon. Those two…they give me the skivvies, but the tide will the changing, not just for them, but for everyone. Thank you for waiting for an update, you guys. Until next time, love you!**


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